Processors have progressively decreased in size and increased in processing power for many years. Multi-core processors allow one chip to have multiple processors operating in parallel to increase power and speed.
Tablet computers and mobile phones, particularly smartphones, are growing in popularity. Mobile phones, and possibly tablet computers, include antennas to connect to a wireless network, also referred to as a cell network. Multiple standards exist for voice communication over mobile phones, including CDMA, GSM, and UMTS. Additional and overlapping multiple standards exist for wireless connections to the internet, including 3GPP, LTE, Edge, and UMTS.
A mobile phone may be hard-wired to be used with a particular communication protocol. Alternatively, a mobile phone may utilize a software-defined radio that may be programmed during the manufacturing process, and which may be subsequently re-programmed by a user. Software-defined radio advantageously allows a single device to be used with multiple standards, which allows manufacturers to market the same product to markets serviced by different standards. Software-defined radio also provides a significant benefit to the consumer by allowing the consumer to have the flexibility to use a mobile phone that is initially programmed for a first standard in a first service area, in a second service area serviced by a second standard, simply by re-programming the phone.
Programming a software-defined radio requires programming a processor, for instance a multi-core processor, to operate as a digital signal processor. Different mobile telephony and/or data standards require different software programs, and different processor configurations also require different software programs. Testing a multi-core processor may require hand writing many tests, and may therefore be time consuming, laborious, and subject to error.